Regional leaders ask for intensified help to cease the transmission of untamed poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan
April 28, 2025 – Well being Ministers all through the Japanese Mediterranean area and the members of the International Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) met virtually April 27 for the 13thth Regional subcommittee assembly for the eradication of polyomyelitis and outbreaks, reaffirming the collective solidarity of the area to finish polyomyelitis, the oldest public well being emergency of worldwide concern.
Convent by the WHO regional director for the Japanese Mediterranean and co -presided by the Ministers of Well being of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Subcommittee has develop into, within the final four years, it has develop into a basic regional platform for the help of conferences and actions organized to succeed in Zero Poliomio.
Regardless of important progress, greater than 100 youngsters have been paralyzed by wild poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the course of the previous 12 months. Variant poliovirus outbreaks proceed in Djibouti, Gaza and Somalia and vaccination campaigns have been suspended within the governments of northern Yemen since 2021. The battle, humanitarian crises, insecurity and local weather change have added complexity to the epidemiological state of affairs.
The Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Bin Saad Al Mahmoud, Minister of Public Well being of Qatar and co -president of the Subcommittee, mentioned: “For us, within the Japanese Mediterranean area, polyomyelitis not solely the longest public well being emergency of worldwide restlessness, however one of the crucial essential public well being priorities.
Talking on behalf of him Abdul Rahman Mohammed al Oweis, Minister of Well being and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates and co -president of the Subcommittee, Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, undersecretary Assistant Well being, acknowledged the investments and concrete steps that the outcomes of the preparation and the reply are carried out. “Within the Regional Committee of Doha final October, all of us promised our dedication to a area freed from polio. Our solidarity is incomparable and likewise our decision. However now, we have to act extra urgently than ever earlier than. Collectively we will change the long run and consign polio to historical past.”
In response to the cuts to the GPE funds and its influence on important well being companies, together with youngster immunization, which has applied emergency measures to ensure the continuity of important programmatic actions within the international locations of polyomiodenic and outbreaks.
In his feedback, the regional director of the Japanese Mediterranean, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, acknowledged the evolutionary international well being financing state of affairs and highlighted how the beneficiant monetary help of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is important to keep up this system.
Talking on behalf of the Fahad Bin Abdurrahman al-Isejel, Minister of Public Well being, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Assiri, vice minister of preventive well being, mentioned: “The dominion of Saudi Arabia acknowledges the historic alternative earlier than us to see the second illness. The polio is an extended risk.”
Ministers of Well being or its representatives of Iraq, kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen attended the assembly. The dialogue pressured the intensified efforts all through the area to succeed in the zero dose and tough to entry youngsters to guard them in opposition to polyomyelitis and different preventable illnesses.
The Subcommittee additionally issued an announcement on the arrest of the transmission of the wild poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan, urging the Member States, donors and the worldwide group to proceed their help because the final 2 endemic international locations double in efforts to finish the transmission.
In regards to the regional subcommittee on eradication of polyomyelitis and outbreaks
The regional subcommittee on eradication of polyomyelitis and outbreaks, established by the World Well being Group, focuses on coordinating and supporting efforts to eradicate polyomyelitis and reply to outbreaks throughout the Japanese Mediterranean area. The subcommittee offers a platform for ministers of well being and events to share data, methods and sources to realize a polio free world.
Media contact
Anna Biernat, Communication Officer, who EMR/Pol: This e-mail tackle is being shielded from spambots. JavaScript wants enabled to see it